Cat Fancy

Cat Fancy was the name of a popular North American monthly magazine dedicated to cats, owners of cats, and breeders of cats published by BowTie Inc. It was then sold to Lumina Media.

This article is about the magazine. For the breeding and competitive showing of domestic cats, see animal fancy.
Cat Fancy
December 2007 cover of Cat Fancy
CategoriesLifestyle
FrequencyMonthly
Total circulation
(2013)		155,179[1]
Founded1965 (1965)
Final issueFebruary 2015 (2015-02)
CompanyI-5 Publishing
CountryUnited States
Based inIrvine, California, U.S.
LanguageEnglish
WebsiteArchived website
ISSN0892-6514

Catster began as a community site by the people who created Dogster in the early 2000s. It was acquired by SAY Media in 2011. In July 2014, Dogster and Catster were sold to Lumina Media. In 2015, Lumina Media combined its two large cat and dog brands — Dog Fancy magazine and Dogster.com and Cat Fancy magazine and Catster.com — under the brand names of Catster and Dogster. The Dogster and Catster brands were sold to Belvoir Media Group in April 2017.

Belvoir Media Group is based in Norwalk, Connecticut, and publishes a variety of special interest magazines, newsletters and websites. In addition to Dogster and Catster, Belvoir Media Group's pet publications include Whole Dog Journal, Cornell University DogWatch, Tufts University Your Dog, Cornell University CatWatch and Tufts University Catnip..[2]

The magazine

The first issue was published in 1965.[3] Since then, each issue has been dedicated to a certain breed, which is shown on the cover and on a poster inside. The magazine also has health tips, polls, editor's notes, stories written by cat owners, cat product information, cat themed fashions, and a cat picture gallery, among other features.

Cat Fancy's publishers also offer Dog Fancy for dogs and their owners. Cat Fancy magazine's main rival in North America is Cats and Kittens.

In 2007, Cat Fancy was awarded 14 Certificates of Excellence Awards at the 14th Annual Cat Writers' Association Awards Banquet.[4]

Cat Fancy magazine changed its name to Catster magazine and became a bimonthly magazine in 2015. In 2017, it was bought by Belvoir Media Group and continues to publish.[5] Belvoir Media Group is based in Norwalk, Connecticut, and publishes a variety of special interest magazines, newsletters and websites. In addition to Dogster and Catster, Belvoir Media Group's pet publications include Whole Dog Journal, Cornell University DogWatch, Tufts University Your Dog, Cornell University CatWatch and Tufts University Catnip.

Catster began as a sister site to the Dogster community site.[6][7]

Writers and editors

Cat Fancy has had and continues to have a number of high-profile pet experts as writers and editors to the magazine. Susan Logan, editor in chief since 2003, also blogs on the company website.[8] Current staff includes Sandy Robbins, a pet lifestyle expert; Helen Jablonski, a cat behavior expert; Elain Wexler-Mitchell, DVM; and Cimeron Morrissey, Animal Planet's Cat Hero of the Year.[4] During the years 1981 to 1983 one of the most popular features was a cartoon series under editor Linda Lewis penned by writer and artist Michael T. Ganci.

Natural Cat

In the summer of 2009, Cat Fancy launched a spin-off magazine named Natural Cat, about alternative nutrition and medicine, such as organic cat foods and herbal therapy. It premiered in June 2009 in a special double issue of the main magazine. Actress and cat lover Jenna Fischer appeared on the cover and was interviewed about her cats for the feature article.[9] Its slogan is "Caring For Your Whole Cat".

See also

Sources
  1. "Circulation averages for the six months ended 6/30/2014". Alliance for Audited Media. June 30, 2014. Archived from the original on December 23, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  2. Abraham Reisman (December 11, 2014). "Who Killed Cat Fancy?". New York.
  3. Cat Fancy November 2008 article "Through the Years, pages 16-18
  4. Product Description from Cat Fancy on Amazon.com
  5. "Press Release: Belvoir Media Group acquires Catster and Dogster from Lumina Media LLC". The Fisher Company. April 25, 2017.
  6. "Community - Catster". Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  7. "Catster.com - one of the largest online cat communities - is the real deal, and Paw's mom is joining the action - Paws News for Cat Lovers". 7 January 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  8. Gawker: 'Cat Fancy' Editor Takes Catblogging To Dangerous Extremes Archived July 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  9. Cat Fancy Magazine - June 2009 Special Double Issue
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